The University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW) and its partner, Marshfield Clinic, remain committed to the challenge of transforming the research culture and environment to further develop clinical and translational science as a distinct discipline. UW approaches this challenge with the unique perspective afforded by the ongoing transformation of the Medical School to a School of Medicine and Public Health, which has mandated creation of a health delivery system based on effective application of current knowledge by turning it into current practice. Achieving this goal is facilitated by the strength UW derives from a strong and committed partnership forged by its Health Sciences Schools/College and Marshfield Clinic. Over the past four years, the Institute for Clinical and Translational Research (ICTR), formed as the vehicle to achieve the cultural transformation, has coupled a catalytic investment of new resources with the integration, synergy, and amplification of existing resources to forge substantive changes in the research environment and culture for clinical and translational research. Our key goal will continue: to create an environment that facilitates transformation of research at the UW and Marshfield Clinic into a continuum extending from investigation to discovery to translation into practice. To achieve this goal, ICTR will further stimulate the creation of interdisciplinary teams, make available state-of-the-art core facilities, expand biostatistical and biomedical informatics resources, forge new partnerships with community organizations, and encourage research participation in the continuum of translational sciences. ICTR will continue to develop a cadre of multidisciplinary biomedical and behavioral scientists capable of accelerating translation of research findings into evidence-based policies and practices, which will improve health in the U.S'. Such outcomes will be facilitated by the formation of interdisciplinary research teams, which bridge the gulf between the basic scientists at the University and community partners, selected from an extensive well-developed clinical network in Wisconsin. These initiatives will further stimulate evolution of the research culture to fulfill the Wisconsin Idea, a concept linking University efforts to the well-being of the residents in Wisconsin.